


Muted Words

by sungbricrumbs



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Disabled Character, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:07:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25300609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sungbricrumbs/pseuds/sungbricrumbs
Summary: in which Sungjin is being raised in one of the most powerful packs as an alpha— a 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘦 one. Never once in his life, he thinks he's worthy of love. And Younghyun is trying so hard to show him the importance of loving himself.
Relationships: Kang Younghyun | Young K/Park Sungjin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 67





	1. Intro: Park Sungjin

**Author's Note:**

> English isn't my first language, if there are any grammatical errors, please bear with it.

Sungjin was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His family runs the biggest metal and weapon supply factories in South Korea and they also own the title of the richest family in the northern part of the country. Everyone from the north knows _the_ Park family. Sungjin himself should've been an heir of this family since he's the only child and an alpha. But sadly, his family treats him differently because he _can't talk_.

Now scientifically, he isn't mute. He has his voice too. But he was born rather different than the others, his vocal cord can only manage to produce sound below the human ears frequency, making it seems like he's mute to everyone. Nobody can hear him, including himself, he can't hear his voice.

In the first ten years, his family wasn't giving it all up. When the other kids are spending their time by going to school or flying kites at the park, Sungjin spent more than half of his childhood staying in the hospital to do countless treatments and surgeries. But nothing changed. Instead, the surgeries left a horrible, long red scar across his porcelain neck. The scar won't fade away even after years. Many times he'd catch a disgusted or scared look on people's faces if they glance at Sungjin's neck. One day, when he was playing by himself in the playground, some kids around his age pointed at him and screamed as if he's a monster. From that day on, he never left the mansion again, unless he was going to another surgery.

He was twelve when his parents stopped taking him to the hospital. They were hopeless. Every night Sungjin would sleep to his mother's cry across the room and his father's comforting voice towards his mother. He felt vulnerable as he couldn't do anything about it. Behind those walls, he could hear his mother clearly saying along those lines,

“Can't the doctors fix his voice?”

“That means...he can't lead a pack, right? If he's mute.”

“What if no omega wants to mate with our son?”

“Does that mean we cannot have any grandchildren ever?”

“Oh, my poor son. Why does he have to be so useless like this? He'll bring nothing but shame to our family.”

It was when he was thirteen, he asked his father if they can hire a teacher to teach sign language, not only to him and his parents but also to all the servants and drivers in their mansion, so that Sungjin wouldn't feel being left out again and it'd be easier for him too to communicate. Although it was working quite effectively in the first month, people around him began to think he's being weird as he uses sign language. A lot of times he caught the new servants were talking bad about him even if he was in the same room, they thought Sungjin is deaf. He could feel the pang in his chest, listening to those words being thrown at him, but he acted as if he can't hear them. He'd hold his knees close to his chest every night and cry himself to sleep, wondering why must he born like this. Once again, Sungjin felt so small and vulnerable.

He spent his days with homeschooling, or learning some new vocabularies from the sign language, or just plainly staring out of the window in his room. He used to look up at the night sky in wonder and imagine if he had a friend.

It was when he was eighteen, he felt so tired of being mistreated by his own family and the servants, as if he was not a part of the family. He wanted to move out and live alone. Every night he'd practice in his room, right before he went to bed, to ask about this to his parents. After having enough courage to do that, he walked to them and asked if he can study in Seoul. He bit the inside of his cheek as he waited for them to talk. He thought they'd say no, like always. But it turns out that his parents agreed to him.

But the excitement washed out of him, rushing out of his body just as quickly as it'd flooded in. His eyes were wavering as his mother handed him a black collar.

“Wear this around your neck, it'll cover your scar.”

_Right. I'm still that horrible monster with a scar across my neck._


	2. Intro: Kang Younghyun

Younghyun is like the sun, the center of the universe. Starting from the very first day as he was born into this world, he was being surrounded by the family that loves and cherishes him. He's kind and soft. Cheerful and happy. Younghyun is born as a very beautiful omega. There was not a single day he spent in his life without being showered by love and affection by the people around him.

In the school too, he's very popular among the students and the teachers, not only because he's friendly, but he's also smart. He's very talented in every subject. It was like he's having no imperfection at all.

As if God has his favorite, aside from getting all the love and attention, he's also being raised in a conglomerate family that owns one of the biggest medicine company in the southern part of the country. Yet with all the wealth, he never bragged about it. He keeps being the humble Younghyun everyone knows.

Despite all these things, he sometimes feels like he doesn't like being alone in the spotlight. Yes, he has everyone around him. But he doesn't have anyone to _be_ with him. It feels like the people wanted to be friends with him because he's popular, pretty, and rich, and not because of _who he is_. The only person he used to talk to was his older brother. His name is Terrence, (or Younghyun mostly calls him Terry), he's an alpha. Terry is that kind of a brother whom anyone can trust. But it shattered his heart as Terry decided to move to Canada to live with his wife. And as much as he didn't want to let Terry go, he had to, sooner or later.

It was Wednesday morning when Younghyun was eighteen, Terry left the country, leaving Younghyun alone with the maids and his parents in the big house. To much his delight, the older has promised him that he'd call Younghyun every weekend and send him pictures so that Younghyun misses him less.

“Such a pity the Park family is having no heir.” His mother said that in between cutting the steak on her plate.

“Who?” His dad asked.

“Oh, darling, you know that famous metal and weapon company, Park Corporation. With all the money they have no one to rely on the future of their businesses because they have no heir. Poor them. Consider we're lucky enough to have Terrence and Younghyun who'd be ready to continue our business.”

His dad chuckled. “Where do you get such rumor?”

“A friend of mine told me.”

He hummed. “Well, that is such a pity if it's true.”

Younghyun was silent as he listened to his parents. He continued to slice the rare cooked steak.

“Younghyun, honey, would you like to add your mashed potato?”

“No, thanks, Mom.” He smiled.

“Anyway, have you decided where do you wanna study? This is your last year in high school, right?” His dad jumped into the conversation.

Younghyun straightened his back. He's been thinking about it these days, to move out and live alone. Younghyun cleared his throat before he speaks. “Yeah. I was thinking...maybe Seoul? Is that okay if I move to Seoul?”

“Of course! We'd support you no matter what, honey.” His mom caressed his hand.

“But...you two will be alone here. Now that Terry hyung also lives in Canada. What if you miss me?” Younghyun pouted.

“Oh, don't mind us. You just have to focus on your dream and goal. We'd still be here. Don't worry about us. And if we miss you, we can always go to Seoul, right, darling?” She glanced at his husband. The man just nodded.

“See? Dad doesn't mind. We all support you. We're so proud of you.”

Younghyun giggled, “Thanks Mom, Dad.”


	3. Interlude: Only One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be a long one. Mention of anxiety, scar, and also verbal abuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italic: talking through writings, thoughts, or an emphasis.  
> Bold Italic: talking in sign language

“You smell like an alpha,” Younghyun remarked as his beta friend took a seat in front of him.

The man sighed, “I got a new roommate, like, three days ago. And yes, he's an alpha.”

“Wow,” Younghyun gaped. “I'm glad my roommate is an omega just like me. It must be awkward to be in the same room as an alpha.” He grinned.

Jae scoffed. “Yeah, lucky I'm a beta, the pheromones don't affect me as much as it is to an omega, because God, his scent is so strong. I swear if I was an omega I'd feel aroused 24/7,” Younghyun laughed to Jae's statement, “But he's weird though.”

“How so?” he asked.

“He never talks. I tried to be friendly by asking him some basic questions but all he did was writing the answers on a piece of paper.”

“Maybe he doesn't talk to a stranger,” the blonde shrugged his shoulders along with Younghyun's comment.

In the middle of their conversation, Younghyun could smell a whiff of cedarwood scent. It smells so good and alluring that he unconsciously turned his head towards the direction of where was the scent coming from until his eyes were fixed on an alpha.

“Ah, speaking of the devil,” Jae whistled lowly. “That's him. My roommate, Park Sungjin.” He pointed at the very same figure Younghyun laid his eyes on indirectly with his chin.

Younghyun hummed. The mysterious alpha was walking alone with both of his hands nestled inside the pockets of his black padded jacket. And as soon as other students sniffed at the good smell, a lot of omegas were unconsciously releasing their scents into the air, letting the alpha acknowledges their presence. Yet the alpha didn't react anything to it. He quickened his pace to get out of there because the place was getting more and more suffocating from all the mixed pheromones instead.

“Jesus, he made all omegas being thirsty for him. Let's get out of here.”

* * *

The second time they met was much more different than the first. It was on a Friday afternoon. The omega was sipping his vanilla latte, eyes focused on the big window next to him. It's been raining a lot in the past two weeks since the season was changing from fall to winter. Thousands of tiny droplets were racing down the window glass as the thunder filled the cloudy, grey sky.

A bell tinkled as the cafe door opened, welcoming a man in. He was dripping wet from the rain, his jet black hair was sticking to his forehead. According to what he sees, it was the very same alpha he saw some weeks ago in the campus corridor. It was Jae's roommate. The said man walked to the counter, ordering himself a warm drink to chug down on the cold, rainy day. Younghyun turned his head back to the window, watching the rain.

But not until five minutes later. A faint scent of cedarwood was there. The petrichor made his scent appear weaker. He raised his eyes, only to find the same alpha was standing there. His index finger pointed at the chair across him, motioning Younghyun if he could sit on it. And as the omega scanned the cafe, he just realized that all other seats were occupied already.

“Okay, you can sit there.”

The latter smiled and bowed politely before taking the seat across him.

To his dismay, Jae was right. This alpha in front of him won't talk even after he asked him a question like, “Hey, what's your name?”

Yes, Younghyun has pretended as if he didn't know his name yet just so he could start a conversation between them.

And instead of answering the man's question, he opened his bag and took out a drawing book. He uncapped the black marker with his canines and wrote,

_Park Sungjin. What about u? :)_

Not to say that Sungjin was kinda cute that he added the smiling emoji at the end of the sentence.

“I'm Kang Younghyun,” he cheekily grinned from ear-to-ear. “Nice to meet you Sungjinssi,” The gray-haired omega offered his hand and Sungjin took it rather enthusiastically.

There's just a little number of people who'd treat him nicely at the first encounter. Most of them would think of him as a weird wolf because he doesn't say a word and always carries an annoying drawing book and a black marker anywhere he goes. So when the omega before him initiated an introduction and a handshake, of course, he accepted it eagerly. He hated how hopeful his action gets towards the other, but whatever. And as much as he wanted to continue to chat with the younger, he couldn't. He had a bunch of assignments to do. And so, he opened his backpack and took out his laptop, blurring any other things in the process, and focused himself on the physics online assignment in front of him.

On the other side of the table, Younghyun, too, wanted to talk with him, but as he saw the alpha being busy, he decided not to try any further. Nevertheless, he was secretly staring at him. His eyes were scrutinizing every little detail. Sungjin wore a dark green bomber jacket paired with a black t-shirt underneath. His thick thighs were clad in a pair of short jeans. He wondered if the alpha hadn't felt cold, because it was in the mid of November. The temperature must've dropped already. Or, maybe he did? Because his cheeks, the tip of his nose, and also his ears were flushed. It must be because of the low temperature. His skin was slightly tan, but not as tan as Younghyun's. And those eyes. God. Those dark, round eyes. Younghyun swore his eyes are so beautiful.

There existed the possibility that some unknown feelings have taken over larger parts of his brain by now, that he couldn't stop himself from letting his eyes wander on the man in front of him. But that's just how Younghyun is. He is, indeed, a little bit different than the other omegas. When another omegas are usually shy and calm, he's most probably not. That's because Younghyun was raised by an alpha family. Most of his big family members are alphas. Some of them are omegas and beta, but he can count them with his fingers in one hand only. And if one can put it into words, Younghyun is biologically an omega, but his traits are like an alpha.

When his cup of latte was eventually empty and the rain has stopped, Younghyun stood up. He was a bit surprised when Sungjin raised his gaze at the same time. His pitch onyx orbs met his light hazel ones, his breath hitched.

“I gotta go. See you next time, Sungjinssi,” Younghyun said before he shuffled his way out.

Little did he know, the alpha was silently staring at him from his place, following every step the omega took until he turned at the quarter and gone.

* * *

“Were you spending your time with an alpha?” Wonpil, Younghyun's roommate, asked as he took off his shoes and entering their shared room.

“Ugh... Why do you make it sounds weird?” he scrunched his nose, Younghyun then took off his jacket and hang it inside the wardrobe before he continued himself, “But yes, I met an alpha.”

“Was it Park Sungjin?”

Wonpil's question caught him off guard, “Wait, how– do you know him?!”

“I mean, your clothes smell woody, cedarwood to be precise. It's a strong, significant smell, mind you. I could only think of him if this scent comes across. And yes, I do know him. We're sharing some classes. He's studying materials and metallurgical while I'm in the physics major.”

“Oh. Well, that explains why does he look so smart.”

“Oh, believe me, he's brilliant. One of the students that have the highest GPA in this semester. It such a shame though, he doesn't have any friends. He can't talk, by the way. Do you know that?”

Younghyun hummed, “Yeah, he didn't talk to me either earlier.”

The smaller omega shook his head, “No hyung. I mean, he's mute. He actually can't talk. He communicates with other people through his writing. That's why when he forgot to bring his book and marker, he would just sit at the corner of the class for the rest of the day.”

That got Younghyun speechless. He didn't know that the alpha is mute. Jae never told him that. “I- I feel sorry for him,” _...for being a lone wolf_.

Never in his life, he met an actual lone wolf.

Because they, wolves, are naturally living in groups, or they usually call it packs. Wolves enjoy social behavior. It's very rare to find a lone wolf. Because they tend to build a pack together, lone wolf may find it harder to live their life as they have no one to protect themselves. Usually, lone wolves are either so weak because their pack exiled them, or too strong that they don't need anyone to protect them. But he couldn't sense anything from Sungjin. He's definitely not weak. But also, Younghyun couldn't smell any dominance coming from him earlier. However, that's a pity of him, for not having a pack.

* * *

Their third encounter occurred when Younghyun was jogging at the park in the morning. He saw him crouching down, feeding pigeons with seeds in his palms. Some of them were perching on his shoulders and head. He was smiling so wide that his eyes turned into crescents.

After a minute of hesitating of intending to greet him or not, he decided to greet him in the end. Younghyun was inching closer to the other and tapped his shoulder. His sudden presence startled the birds and made them flew away. Sungjin raised his head, looking at Younghyun who was standing tall next to him. With the same smile on his face, he waved his hand. He patted his jeans before completely straightened up his body.

The next fifteen minutes were spent by Younghyun asking him questions and Sungjin filled his drawing book with his handwriting. The pages he used that day in total was way more than he'd normally use in a week. Sungjin was so happy that finally someone talked to him. He was hoping that maybe they can be friends.

“Do you have a pack here on campus?” Younghyun asked. But the feeling of excitement was quickly oozing out of his body, being replaced by regret. How come he could be so dense and asked him such a personal question like that?

Sungjin stared at him blankly. He nibbled his lower lip as he averted his eyes. As if he could read the expression of the alpha, Younghyun mentally cursed himself for making the other uneasy.

“Y-you don't have to answer that, if you feel uncomfortable.”

But in the end, Sungjin wrote his response down.

_I don't. I tried at first. I joined the invitation the campus organization has sent me through an email, it was a first run for freshmen alphas, to form a campus pack. But as I arrived there, they kicked me out for...being different, not being able to talk, or to howl like normal wolves do. No packs accepted me. So, yeah, I belong to no one here. I have my natal pack back in my hometown, though._

Before Younghyun could say anything else, Sungjin wrote again.

_Don't feel sorry. Now, scientifically, I'm not mute. I'm just naturally born with a rather different vocal cord than the others. Its frequencies are below the human ears capacity, hence nobody can hear me._

“So...that means you always need your book and marker, right? What if you lose 'em?”

_Then I won't talk. Unless someone understands sign language._

* * *

Younghyun didn't know how, but since that day on, he frequently bumped into Sungjin on different occasions. Sometimes in the library, sometimes at the park. But mostly they found each other's presence at the cafe near campus. He knew the latter enjoys taking his daily caffeine every morning. Soon enough, their ten-minutes-long conversation somehow grew into an hour. And before they realized it, they already spent most of their weekends by taking a stroll together downtown, or going to a theater, or even visiting some art museums, in which Younghyun didn't know how to appreciate those paintings.

Other days they eat together at the campus cafeteria. This is what Sungjin didn't really like since people started to recognize him as _the unknown alpha who's trying to get close to the popular, pretty omega, Kang Younghyun_. And the fact that Younghyun didn't get any signals he's been sending him, didn't help at all. Moreover when the younger decided to sit right next to him in most of their lunchtime.

Now to think about it, it's not that he hates Younghyun that he doesn't want to be seen close to him in the range of 6 feet, that's for sure. However, he knew damn well some people might have the thought that he's a strange alpha even before Younghyun came to his life. He doesn't even care if people keep on throwing him weird looks, it grew on him anyway. But the problem is, he can't stand it if people start to think of the omega lowly too just because he hangs out with Sungjin. He just can't drag the good reputation of Younghyun down.

On the contrary, the omega didn't mind though meeting Sungjin every now and then. He kinda likes his companion. The alpha's gestures were nice, not like most alphas who were just trying to get into his pants and knot him. Sungjin has always been respecting their personal space by not sitting or standing too close to him, his ears even turned red whenever their hands accidentally brushed or every time Younghyun complimented him. He might be the softest alpha Younghyun ever met.

But he also got a strong dominance in him, he just doesn't show it often. There was a time when Younghyun witnessed it for the first time. He was walking alone to his dorm late at night and there were some random, drunk alphas trying to mess with him. And then out of nowhere Sungjin came and emitted a great amount of dominant aura, making those men surrendered and walked away.

Younghyun, too, got his knees weak and fell on the ground as he sensed the dominance Sungjin got. It was maybe stronger than his brother's, and it was almost terrifying if it wasn't Sungjin who held and helped him after that.

That night, before they parted, Sungjin asked him to not ever walk alone late in the night anymore.

* * *

He was minding his own business and he solely didn't know that his shoulder hit someone else.

“Watch where you walk, dumbass!”

Sungjin ducked his head down at the exclamation.

“Yah! Why don't you apologize?!”

The man grabbed his collar harshly, pulling him closer before a second later he threw him to the wall. Sungjin grimaced in pain when his back hit it pretty hard. If he wants, he could easily knock the man down. But Sungjin chose not to. He hates to fight.

“Tch! What a pathetic alpha.”

Sungjin was more than surprised when a punch being landed on his right cheek. He could feel the taste of his own blood as he accidentally bit his tongue in the process. As he raised his gaze on the man before him, another punch hit his nose, it stung. He's sure his nose would bleed in no time. And before he could take any other actions, the senior then knocked his knee pretty hard on Sungjin's stomach, making him instantly crouched down to his knees.

The other students didn't do anything, they just surrounded them, watching the senior beating him up. Some even got their phones to record the fighting scene. Anyone in that campus knows, not to mess with that senior. Some bad rumors were going around about him, and that his behaviors weren't doing any better. Hence, no one ever wanted to lay a finger on him.

Well, not until that day, when Younghyun came through the crowd, throwing his fist against the man's jaw, earning multiply surprised gasps from those people. The man spat his blood to the ground. He was quite impressed by the omega; his strength and his confidence resemble nothing like his kind.

“Oh, so you are his boyfriend, Kang?” The man smirked, he straightened his body. With his lips cracked, he raised his index finger and lifted Younghyun's chin, which made the latter disgusted at his act. He continued, “What a waste. With a beautiful face and power your family holds, you can get any alpha you want but you choose this mute, poor alpha instead. What? Did he knot you that good?”

“Fuck you,” he cursed under his breath.

He placed his right palm on the left side of the man's neck, and then he swiftly kicked his ankles, making the man stumbled to the floor with his neck under. Those movements were so fast and powerful, it happened so quickly before the man could react. Just when Younghyun once again wanted to snap the alpha's back, Sungjin held him back and pulled him out of the crowd. They both ran away from the scene.

Younghyun didn't know where Sungjin took him to. They have been running for ten minutes. His rage was still burning in his chest, his fist clenched that his knuckles turned white. They kept running through their short breath, until they both stopped in front of a dorm building, the farthest one from the campus. Younghyun recognized this one is Jae's dorm, which also means, Sungjin's. They went into the building, choosing to go upstairs with the elevator since they were a little bit tired. When the elevator reached the fifth floor, they went to the second room to their left side.

Sungjin opened the door and let Younghyun go into the room before him. He pointed at his bed, motioning Younghyun to sit there meanwhile he walked to the bathroom. Younghyun obeyed, though. He slowly climbed up to the bed and crossed his feet as his back leaning against the beige wall. Sungjin was back five minutes later, with the cold damp cloth and a first aid kit box in his hands.

The man pulled a wooden chair across the bed and sat there, facing Younghyun. He opened the red box and then he grabbed a ball of gauze and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Sungjin slowly poured the liquid into the gauze before he swiped the soaked gauze on Younghyun's knuckles. His skin torn a little bit, maybe because he hit the man so hard.

“Ah!” Younghyun hissed when the topical antiseptic touched his torn skin. With his thumb, Sungjin drew circles on the back of his hand, trying to calm him down from the pain.

After he thinks it's enough, Sungjin dabbed a little bit of ointment and then ripped a band-aid and patched it on his knuckles.

“Star Wars band-aid?” Younghyun chuckled, he was flexing his hand while looking at the baby Yoda patterned band-aid. Sungjin shrugged his shoulder.

The omega then looked at him. The alpha got some cuts on his lips and bruises on his nose bridge, he wanted to take care of him too. But suddenly Sungjin raised his gaze, looking straight in his eyes. His long arms were extended to grab a book and a marker on the nightstand next to his bed.

_You could've injured him badly! More importantly, you could've hurt yourself too if I didn't stop you earlier. Don't ever do that again._

He was upset, Younghyun could sense it. From the way he clenched his jaw and furrowed his eyebrows and he also pushed the marker against the paper a little bit too hard as he wrote those sentences down. Younghyun frowned. He raised his right hand to his forehead, fingers making a sign similar to _'okay'_ then he brought his hand down to a chopping motion on the back of his left hand.

_**I'm sorry.** _

Sungjin gasped. Did Younghyun just speak in sign language?

“I'm still learning it, there's a class to learn sign language for beginners near the city library. I joined that class every weekend, it's been three weeks now.” He grinned from ear-to-ear and rubbed at the back of his neck. Sungjin noticed Younghyun's cheeks were a bit red. “Did I do that correctly? That means I'm sorry, right?”

Sungjin slowly nodded. He still couldn't believe the younger learns sign language for him.

To respond to his apology earlier, Sungjin then raised his pinky finger and touched his chin. In sign language, it means: _**It's okay.**_

Younghyun smiled. Because for the first time, he could understand Sungjin, even without words.

* * *

It was rather a lazy week in the first semester because he got almost no assignments. And because he had nothing to do, he decided to stop by Sungjin's dorm.

He'd love to take his roommate, Wonpil, to the mall to buy some cute pajamas or just trying out some new fast-food restaurants, but Wonpil had already another appointment. And he couldn't ask Jae to hang out too, since the older said it himself that he had some projects to work on. The next thing he knew was, he texted Sungjin if he could come there.

And here he was, huddled on the warm carpeted floor of Sungjin's room.

“What are you doing?” Younghyun peeked at Sungjin's shoulder. The other was casually scrolling down his phone on a cooking recipe website.

“Oh? You wanna cook?”

Sungjin nodded, his finger still scrolling.

“Can I cook with you?” Younghyun eagerly asked. The alpha nodded his head once again. He then showed Younghyun his phone screen to show him the recipe of spicy mushroom hotpot.

“I love hotpot! Do you have all the ingredients? Or should we buy them before we get to cook?”

_**I'm out of enoki and oyster mushroom. You can wait here, I'm gonna go to the supermarket. It's just across the street.** _

“Let me come with you.” He was about to snatch his jacket but Sungjin shook his head.

_**You stay here.** _

“Are you sure you don't want me to come along?” No answer, Sungjin just offered him a half-smile. “Alright then. Text me if you need anything.”

Sungjin then proceeded to wear his black long coat and then he touched his neck. Once he was sure his collar sat around his throat, he opened the door and walked out of the dorm, leaving the latter alone in his room.

Some minutes later, the younger found himself sprawled on Sungjin's bed while streaming some videos on his phone. But nothing entertains him. He huffed his bangs out of his face. Out of curiosity, he reached the drawer on the bedside and opened it without a second thought. A framed picture wasn't the first thing he expected to be there.

It was a family picture. In the picture, he saw a chubby kid, maybe around nine or ten. He stands beside a woman in a white, elegant dress. Behind the boy, there's a man in a tuxedo. None of them were smiling. Nonetheless, the picture is beautiful. But Younghyun couldn't take his eyes off the kid. Especially on his neck area. There's this long, red scar across that white, porcelain skin. He winced at the sight.

Before he could investigate any further, he heard the door being harshly opened. He quickly put the picture back in the drawer and acted as if nothing happened.

“Oh? Fancy to meet you here, Brian.”

“Jesus! You scared me. I thought you were Sungjin hyung.”

Jae raised his eyebrow. “Wait, are you guys together?”

“What- no, no! Of course not! We're just...friends” He furiously blushed. His hands animatedly moving around.

“But you're laying on his bed right now.”

“Well, that... Because there's no couch here so I gotta make myself comfortable.”

He chuckled. However, Jae noticed that Younghyun has developed a crush on his roommate. It's not hard to notice it. Anybody would've guessed the same thing too. From the way his face would light up whenever Sungjin texts him, or the way Younghyun's dreamy expression when Wonpil brought up Sungjin as their topic, or the way Younghyun's cheeks turned bright red if Jae teases him about being Sungjin's omega. Well, from what he sees, Sungjin is a good alpha. His track record is clean. At least he can ease up to leave Younghyun alone with the alpha. He's in good hands.

“Sure. You do you. Don't come at me if suddenly he attacks and eats you,” he couldn't help to tease the other.

“He's not like that!”

Jae laughed hard. In the middle of their bickering, the door abruptly opened, revealing Sungjin. He was quite surprised to see his roommate was back.

“Hey, man. I came to grab my stuff and then probably won't be back again until tomorrow night. Take care of Younghyun, okay?” He patted Sungjin's shoulder with his free hand. Jae then whispered on Sungjin's ear, “Younghyun likes it hard.”

“HYUNG I CAN HEAR YOU!! Just go!” He was so close to throwing him a pillow from across the room.

“Alright, alright. Bye guys! Use protection if you don't want any pups at this age!” He winked at them both before running away from the place.

Sungjin blushed hard, and Younghyun wasn't doing any better. They stood in an awkward position without sparing a glance at each other for almost three minutes.

“S-should we cook the hotpot now?” Younghyun cursed at his own stuttered voice.

* * *

After spending some time preparing the seasonings and broth and also cutting the mushrooms and the garnish, the hotpot was finally ready to be served. They were so concentrated on cooking they didn't realize it's been raining hard for the last thirty minutes outside. Sungjin was about to scoop out the soup to the bowl when Younghyun suddenly clutched onto his arm so hard as a big thunderstruck.

Another thunder can be heard, and his clutch turned into a hug. Sungjin slowly put the soup ladle down before grabbing the other's shoulders, forcing him to look at him.

_**Are you okay?** _

Younghyun didn't answer. He grasped Sungjin's sweatshirt so hard, his eyes shut. The Alpha sighed. He covered the pot and turned off the stove before anything else, and then he guided the omega to his bed. It was the last thing he could do.

It was probably the biggest rainstorm in the month. The wind blew so hard that the windows room clattered. The clear sky was long gone and turned into a dark and cloudy one. Then again, the series of thunders along with the lightning won't stop. Even though they were now laying on the bed while a thick comforter draping their bodies, the smaller didn't release his hold on Sungjin. He was nearly crying.

The older pulled him into his arms closer by laying the other's head on his chest. Sungjin's big palm rested on his back and his other hand caressed his hair. The woody scent of Sungjin calmed him down although there were no words exchanged between those two. It was warm and comfortable. And without noticing it, his eyes fluttered and fell deep into slumber.

It was nearly eight in the evening when he woke up. The rainstorm was no longer there, it turned into a soft drizzle, but the wind still blew pretty hard outside. His ears were feverish-red when he realized their position. Their legs tangled, Sungjin's arms wrapped loosely around his shoulders, meanwhile his arms rested against the alpha's broad chest. Younghyun raised his chin, only to find the latter had his eyes open, looking right into his hazel eyes.

He stuttered, “I'm sorry, I shouldn't fell asleep on you.”

But all he got was his hand on Younghyun's cheek, rubbing his skin softly. Younghyun leaned to the touch.

_**Feeling better?** _

He tried to suppress his growing smile on his lips but it was impossible. How could he not? The alpha treated him so nicely. Like he's the most fragile thing in the entire world he had to take care of him very gently.

He nodded before he got off Sungjin's chest by rolling his body to the side, facing him. “Yeah, thanks.”

Younghyun's eyes traced his handsome face then down to his neck, where's his collar wrapped around. His mind wandered back to the picture he found in the drawer. If that kid in the picture is Sungjin, he must have had the same scar on his neck. He realized Sungjin has never took his collar off. And he wondered if that collar supposed to cover his scar.

He slowly reached out to his collar, not to scare the older. Sungjin usually would flinch if somebody stares at his collar for more than three seconds, but there's something about Younghyun's touch that didn't make him flinch. He let the younger trailed his fingertips on the leather material.

“Can I?”

Sungjin weakly nodded. He couldn't lie that he was feeling nervous. What if Younghyun disgusted at the sight? What if Younghyun decides to walk away? What if after this Younghyun becomes a stranger to him like everyone else? All those questions made him nauseous.

The metal clicked when Younghyun took off his collar. Sungjin closed his eyes shut, too afraid to witness the younger's reaction if he sees his ugly scars. Soon enough, he could feel the slightest brush of his fingertips along the tissue of his scars. No one, not even his parents, dare enough to touch his scars because they think it's disgusting. Younghyun was the first one. And that thing made him even more anxious. He grabbed the bedsheets as he swallowed a lump in his throat. He was so ready to see Younghyun's worst reaction.

On the other hand, the omega noticed how uneasy Sungjin had become, he moved his fingers to his cheek, caressing it. He wanted Sungjin to look at him. He wanted Sungjin to know that it's alright. That Younghyun would still be there even after he opened his eyes. That Younghyun got no slightest bit of scare or disgust towards his long, red, permanent scars.

When Sungjin finally opened his eyes, Younghyun could see his eyes were watery and his lips were trembling. He looked so vulnerable at this state. Sungjin was fumbling, trying to change his position into sitting. Younghyun mirrored his actions.

“If you don't mind me asking,” Younghyun asked hesitantly, “What happened to your neck?” He once again ran his fingers there for some seconds, feeling the skin is slightly bumped.

_**Back in the past, I've done so many surgeries... But they've all failed. They couldn't do anything to fix my vocal cord. I still can't talk. I'm still...useless. Nothing changes, just this ugly scar carved my neck.** _

Sungjin's hands dropped at his sides as he uttered the last sentence.

“First of all, there's nothing to fix, nothing's wrong about not being able to talk. Being different doesn't mean you're wrong. Second of all, you. are. not. useless. ” Younghyun emphasized every word. “And your scar isn't ugly.”

_**It's hard to believe that when it's the only thing you've been hearing your parents and also the people around you saying about you for the last twenty years.** _

“They're all wrong!” He clenched his jaw. He felt angry towards those people who been treating him badly.

_**Why are you being so nice to me? You don't have to help me. You don't have to pity me. You just... You can't be so nice to me like this, Younghyun.** _

“That's because I like you.”

Sungjin's hands stopped moving, his eyes widened and jaw slacked.

“I like you a lot, hyung. You're perfect. I thought I made it clear?”

The alpha furrowed his eyebrows. Sure, Sungjin knew the younger has been acting strange lately. But he didn't think that Younghyun like _likes_ him. There's just no way the prettiest omega likes him, right? Not that he's complaining about it though, he's just wondering. And to be frank, he also likes the latter the same way. Maybe a little bit way too much. But the idea of a gorgeous omega like Younghyun likes a mute, pathetic alpha like him was just too good to be true. That's why Sungjin kept his feelings all for himself and kept acting vaguely in front of him for almost a year. He doesn't want to get his hopes up.

_**How can you say that I'm perfect even after knowing that I'm mute? How can you see these ugly scars and say that I'm perfect?** _

“How can I not?” he whispered breathlessly, “With or without those scars you're still the Sungjin I know. You have the deepest, most beautiful eyes that I've ever seen and I don't mind getting lost in them. I love the way your eyes sparkle when you smile. I love the way you make me calm when I'm angry. I love it when sometimes you reply to my text with memes. I love the way your nose crinkles if I eat tteokbokki and I got the red sauce all over my lips. I love how level-headed you are even though I got the attitude sometimes.”

“And also, you have the kindest heart, you appreciate every little thing that happens around you. You play guitar to your bonsai. You buy seeds every weekend to feed the birds at the park.”

Younghyun chuckled. He continued, “I could list all those things in a book and never be enough,” He raised his gaze, looking at his dark orbs. “Tell me, hyung, do you like me?”

He couldn't comprehend his head enough of what he just heard from the younger. His heart was thumping so hard in his chest, maybe Younghyun could hear it too.

_**I... Yes, I like you.** _

“Do you perhaps wanna try it out?”

Sungjin hesitated. Sure, he wants to try it out with the omega, but what if it all goes wrong and he makes Younghyun sad in the end? He can't let that happen.

_**I don't think you understand. I can't even talk or howl, Younghyun. I can't lead a pack. I don't wanna make you regret it.** _

“I won't,” Younghyun sighed. “Hyung, you are far more amazing and braver than you think you are. You don't have a pack here and I thought it shows how strong you are, to live alone, apart from your natal pack, and without having any bond with someone that could protect you. You've been experiencing so many awful things since you were little but you made it until now. I admire you for that,” He scooted closer and took his hands in his.

Once again he let the cedarwood smell filled his lungs, calming him down. “Hyung, you're all I could ask for. And I'm sure you're very well capable of leading a pack. You're wise, you always know what to do in every situation. You know when to use your power against something if something goes wrong. And if you wanna do a run, I'll be _your_ voice. I'll howl for you instead.”

Those lines overwhelmed him. He's been searching for a glimpse of uncertainty in Younghyun's voice and felt a little bit upset as he found none.

“I know it might be scary for you to trust someone else, to do something you've never done in so many years. But I want you to know that I'm serious about this. Give us a chance, please?”

He bit inside of his cheek. It is scary for him. Many questions rose inside his head. Is it okay for him to feel real things? Is this okay for Younghyun, is he the alpha that he really wants and needs in his life?

The younger released his grips on Sungjin's hands, “It's okay. You don't have to answer it now. I just hope you consider—”

He nodded.

“W-what?”

He sucked in as much oxygen as he could, _**Let's try this.**_

He felt scared, but he was going to try. For Younghyun. For them. Just for this once, he, too, wanted to look for his happiness in Younghyun. And the omega couldn't express how happy he was when Sungjin actually agreed to him. He smiled so wide his jaw hurt. He couldn't contain himself from hugging the latter.

“Thank you,”

They spent the rest of the weekend together since Jae was prompting to stay at his friend's that weekend. Sungjin is silly and funny, he's more like a grizzly bear than a wolf. Big, fluffy, and cute (he secretly stated this in his mind because Sungjin doesn't like being called cute).

Sungjin let the smaller one nuzzled on his chest. His hands suggestively tightened around the man's waist. It's been an hour since they stayed in the same position. There was this song that has been stuck on Younghyun's mind and he hummed to the melody.

The younger suddenly wriggled and sat on Sungjin's hips, resting his palms on the stomach of the man under him. Sungjin had this questioned look on him.

“Tell me about your family.”

_**What do you wanna know?** _

He shrugged, “I don't know. Anything. I'll get to meet them eventually, right?”

Sungjin was slowly sitting up. He once again circled his arms around Younghyun's back and pulled him to kiss his chin before he starts explaining to him.

_**We live in the north. Our ancestors left Japan in the 1800s and came to this country. We have businesses.** _

“Oh? I never knew that. What kind of business?” Younghyun seemed interested.

 _ **Investment, real estate,**_ Sungjin paused, _**and weapon supplies.**_

He furrowed his eyebrows, “Wait, a second. Weapon supplies?”

Sungjin nodded.

“And you said you're from the north,” He pursued. Again, he nodded.

Those things _did_ ring a bell on him. Sungjin came from the north, his surname is Park, and his family runs a weapon supplies business.

“I'm sorry if I'm mistaken, but...are you probably related to the Park family? You know, _the_ Park Corporation.”

_**Yes, I'm their only son.** _

“Holy shit,” he released his breath he didn't know since when did he hold it. He never knew that _this_ Sungjin, _his boyfriend_ , is the very heir of the richest family in the northern part of the country. Hell, maybe the richest one in the whole South Korea too.

_**Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not their heir.** _

“What do you mean? You said you're the only son of the family.”

_**Yes, but my father said I can't inherit the wealthiness. I can't even be the head of our businesses in the future. They said I'm not capable to do that because I'm...mute.** _

He scoffed, “That's just plain dumb. Are you gonna prove them that they're wrong all along?”

Sungjin smiled weakly, he shrugged his shoulders. Actually, he doesn't know either what to do with his parents. All he wanted to do at the moment was to change their topic. There are several things he doesn't like to talk about. His neck scar and his family is one of them.

_**How about your family? I heard you guys have a pharmacy business.** _

“You know about that?” Younghyun grinned.

_**Words get around quick.** _

“That's true. We have a pharmacy business. I'm the second son. I have an older brother, just like my mom and dad, he, too, is an alpha. His name is Terrence. The Kang family is basically a big alpha pack. Our ancestors are purebred alphas, that's why we wanna preserve it. Although some of us are betas and omegas, the number isn't that much comparing to the alphas.”

_**I thought two alphas can't mate.** _

“It's rare. But it's not impossible,” he stated.

_**This just makes me more nervous to meet your family. They must be tough. What if they disappointed in me?** _

The insecurities flooding him for the nth time that day.

“I don't think so. You get it when you meet them. Just relax,” Younghyun kissed his temple.

* * *

Just like Sungjin said, words get around quick. By the end of the month, the whole campus starts to talk about their relationship. Those peering, those sarcasms, and also bad treatments aren't doing any better. If anything, it becomes even worse, much in Sungjin's side. Especially if Younghyun isn't there with him.

But that doesn't become his main concern at all. He's worried about the omega. What if people also treat Younghyun like shit?

Every night, he'd FaceTime him and ask him about his day. He doesn't wanna anything bad happens to _his_ Younghyun. But of course, he doesn't say anything along the lines. Younghyun would nag a lot if he says so. He said he's capable of handling that witty sarcasm very well. He said Sungjin doesn't need to be worry.

“Don't underestimate me. Even though I'm an omega, I came from the Alpha Pack,”

That definitely what Younghyun's gonna say for sure.

He knows he shouldn't worry about his boyfriend. He's clever, strong, and independent. He's the most wonderful omega he ever met in his life. Younghyun is all Sungjin wants in the world. That's why he is so grateful to have someone like Younghyun by his side. He's not gonna let this one go.

“I talked about our relationship to my mom and they wanna meet you.”

He paused chopping a carrot. He is currently preparing a simple chicken soup for their dinner. Sungjin turns his head cautiously, _**When?**_

“This weekend. Are you free?”

Sungjin purses his lips, considering if he can clear out his schedule this weekend. He remembers he has some PDFs to learn and also some scripts to work on but maybe they all can wait. The due is in two weeks anyway. Although once again the insecurities slip in his mind, he's flattered that Younghyun intends to bring him to his home. Younghyun has done so much for him. He mustn't let him down. Sure, it'll gonna be a huge step to their relationship. A scary one. But he's gonna bear it all. Just for Younghyun.

_**Sure.** _

* * *

It's six on the Friday evening as they reached Younghyun's home. It took three hours for them to drive from Seoul to here.

“Hyunie~ Come here, Mom missed you,”

The mid-age alpha woman rushes to hug his youngest son. Joy overflows the living room area. Sungjin stands at the door, cooing at the sight before him. As hard as he can, he brushes the thought of wanting a relationship like that too with his mother. He tightens his grips on the black duffel bag that is hanging onto his shoulder.

“Mom, I want you to meet my boyfriend,” he guides his mom to the man. Sungjin, however, shivers at how proud Younghyun refers him as his boyfriend. “Hyung, this is my mother, Kang Youngsook. Mom, this is Park Sungjin.”

Sungjin smiles and shakes her hand.

“Younghyunie always talks about you. He says you're an amazing person and that he wants to be your mate-”

“H-how about we take him to the room? We're tired from the long drive,” he quickly interrupts his mom. He can practically feel the heat starts to creep up his neck and covers the tip of his ears. Sungjin's trying to hold his smile. Luckily, his mother doesn't press the conversation. She then lets the two young men walk into their room.

Before he closes the door, his mom shouts from downstairs. “Your dad's gonna be home at eight! Please come down by then, we're having dinner together.”

“Yes, Mom!” Younghyun shouts back and closes the door behind him.

“I- I'm sorry about earlier,” he stutters. The younger averts his gaze somewhere else when he feels Sungjin's gaze on his. He smirks.

 _ **So, you wanna be my mate, huh? I must say I'm quite surprised to hear it from someone else.**_ Sungjin playfully winks

“Shut up. Do you wanna sleep alone in the guest room?”

His shoulders are shaking, he looks like he's laughing at the moment. _**Sorry. I'm gonna take a quick shower first. Do you wanna join or...?**_

“Just go, you big bear!” He pushes the older into the bathroom along with his duffel bag, being furiously red at the teasing that's being thrown at him.

His bedroom looks neat, the same as the last time Younghyun left. His mom should've cleaned the room thoroughly before they came. Younghyun walks to the balcony, feeling the golden hour touches his skin. It's warm. He missed his home so much. A train of flashbacks comes to his mind. It's always nice to come home.

After Sungjin is done using the bathroom, he takes a shower and changes his clothes to a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. The alpha feels nervous all over again because soon enough he'll meet Younghyun's father.

_**Do they know that I can't talk?** _

“They do. Don't worry, you can use sign language. I'll translate it for them,” he kisses his bare nape and caresses his shoulder to reassure him.

They finally come to the dinner table when the clock nearly strikes eight. Something is off, Younghyun can smell something like mint around the house. Just as he wants to ask his mother, an alpha tackles him down to the carpeted floor. They playfully wrestle, though Sungjin wants to pull him away from the other alpha. But as he notices that this other alpha is none other than Younghyun's older brother, he relents. At least, Younghyun got a big smile on his face because his brother is here.

“Brian! I missed you!”

“Terry hyung?! Since when did you get home?”

“An hour ago, I guess.”

“Aigoo, you're still like little pups. Younghyun, Terrence, stop playing. Our guest is here,” Younghyun's mother passes by the room, they quickly pull away from each other.

“Oh, right,” Terrence stands up. “I'm Brian's older brother, Kang Terrence. Just call me Terry, I don't mind. And to be honest, I'm quite impressed, you're the first alpha Younghyun takes to our home. Make yourself comfortable,” The man named Terrence flashes him a kind smile while patting his shoulder.

Sungjin turns his head to the side, raising his eyebrow to Younghyun. _**Brian?**_

“That's my English name,” he smiles shyly.

* * *

“So, Park Sungjin from the Park Pack in the north, right? I've been hearing about you from our Younghyunie.”

They're all sitting at the dinner table. Younghyun's father, or he introduced himself as Kang Jaesung, is talking to him right now. He shivers at how deep the voice the alpha has. Up close, Younghyun's father doesn't seem as intimidating as he thought he would be. But his dominance aura is surely strong, he can sense it.

“I suppose you're taking good care of my son there in Seoul,” Jaesung continues. The alpha nods in return.

“Well, that's good then. I can trust him to you. Did you guys mate already?” his father asks nonchalantly, making both of them flustered.

“Dad!”

“Oh, not yet? I'm sorry,” his father giggles. “If it's possible, Sungjin, I want you to consider to mate with our son. He needs an alpha to help him during his heat,”

“I take suppressant, Dad. Stop making him feel pressured. We'll do it if we're both ready,”

“Taking suppressant in a long period can mess your hormones and cycle, you know that very well, son. You'll need an alpha.”

He huffed, he looks at his mother, asking for help. But his mother just shrugs her shoulder. “What can I say, Younghyun-ah. Your father is right.”

He turns to look at his brother. “Whoa, don't look at me. I'm nobody here, I came from Canada just to meet you and your boyfriend. I have no right to tell you that. Sorry, little one.”

He can't hold back his pout. Somehow feeling sorry for Sungjin. Sure, he wants to mate with Sungjin. But what if Sungjin isn't ready to do it yet? He doesn't want to stress him. But before he's feeling any negative emotions rushing into his head more, a big hand envelopes his. It's Sungjin. The alpha smiles tenderly at him as he caresses Younghyun's tiny fingers.

_**Don't worry, we'll figure it out.** _

* * *

It's been two weeks since he met Younghyun's family. They're treating him nicely much to his disbelief and also relief. It's the opposite of what he thought things might be, but also he's very happy about the result.

Right now, Sungjin is fiddling his sweatshirt sleeves. Breath caught up in his throat as he reads the text displayed on the phone screen. It's from the last person he hoped it would be.

His father.

 _Can you come back?_ that's what written in it.

“Hey, babe, what's wrong?” Younghyun places his chin on his shoulder from behind. His honey scent calms him down. He shows him the text.

“Your dad? Did something happen between you and your family recently?” Sungjin shrugs. Younghyun asks again, “Do you want me to come along?”

_**Do you want to? My family isn't as perfect as yours though...** _

“They're your family too. Let's meet them.”

Sungjin hesitates the whole night. He doesn't want to drag Younghyun into his awful problem. But the omega is stubborn and loves him too much. And Sungjin is willing to do anything the man wants. In the end, he found himself agreeing with Younghyun's words.

They decide to go there in the next day after lunch. His home isn't as far as Younghyun's one in the south. It only took them less than half an hour to get to Ilsan.

Younghyun gapes at how colossal the Park's mansion is.

“I know you guys are rich, but I didn't know you're _this_ rich.”

_**It's my family's. Not mine.** _

An older alpha greets them as they walk past the front door. Younghyun suspects he's Sungjin's dad since their scents are slightly similar. While Sungjin smells like cedarwood, the other alpha smells like sandalwood. Both are quite strong and dominant scents.

“Oh? I didn't know you bring an omega to our house,” the man scans him from head to toe and Younghyun can't quite understand what's the meaning behind his expression.

“Good afternoon, sir. I'm Kang Younghyun from the Alpha Pack in Busan,” Younghyun bows politely.

His dad hums, “Interesting,” he offers his hand, which Younghyun took, and begins to introduce himself, “I'm Sungjin's dad, Park Minki. It's a pleasure to meet you, Younghyunssi. Please rest yourself first. Dongil here gonna take you to your room. We all can continue to talk later at dinner.”

A maid comes and escorts them to one of many rooms there. Younghyun lays himself on the bed, staring at Sungjin who's changing his clothes to a casual one.

“Your dad is intimidating.”

Sungjin turns his body, facing him. _**Told you.**_

_**If you don't wanna come down later for dinner that's okay. I'll bring your dinner here.** _

“It's okay. You should think yourself more, seriously. You'll probably gonna have a heated arguments later, yet you're spending too much time worrying about me,”

_**I just don't wanna make you uncomfortable, babe. I'm sorry.** _

He bends down and catches Younghyun's lips with his in a long, chaste kiss. The omega leans closer to the man.

“It's okay, we have each other.”

* * *

“I heard you're coming from the Alpha Pack,” his mom, Park Yerim, opens a conversation between the four at the table. They just finished their dinner. “Aren't they having pharmacy business all over the country?”

“Yes, ma'am. They do,” Younghyun nods at the omega woman.

“Younghyun-ah, you're a beautiful omega. You come from a noble family too,” his mom chuckled. “I don't see why do you choose Sungjin as your alpha.”

Those words were like knives being straight stabbed in his chest, and then being pulled out to be stabbed again. Sungjin bites his lower lip. He can feel his throat sore from holding back the tears pooling in his eyes.

Younghyun offers her a smile nevertheless. But not a kind one.

“Sungjin, too, is an amazing alpha. If you think of him lowly just because he can't talk, then you're wrong. He's so much more than a wolf that has infrasound frequencies. And as much as he means a lot to me, I hope you can see and treat him like _your own son_ soon,” Younghyun emphasizes those last words. And he's not guilty about it. Not in the slightest bit. Sungjin really deserves to be loved by his family after all these years.

The others were surprised to hear Younghyun. Sungjin then squeezes his hand under the table. _**Honey, can you get back to our room? I'll be there later after I talk to them.**_

“You sure you're okay?” he asks at Sungjin. The latter nods. Sungjin kisses his knuckles softly before Younghyun goes.

And now it's just the three of them. The atmosphere is unpleasant, the air surround them turns cold too.

“Sungjin, I don't know what your plan is by making an omega from the prestigious Alpha Pack as yours. Is it perhaps because of their business? So that we can reconsider you as our next heir?” his dad presses.

_**I'm not a heartless animal. I really love him because of who he is. His family's wealth and business has nothing to do with it. Are you out of your mind to think that I want their business so that you can accept me back in this family?** _

Sungjin scoffed.

“Let him go. Poor him, he deserves to be with someone better than you,” his mom intrudes.

_**No one decides what's better and what's not for him. Not even his parents. It's his choice, his life. If he loves me, then he loves me. Mom, he's always been there for me when I need him the most. He shows me what love is when you can't.** _

He can't hold back his tears. Some of them escaping, running down his slightly tanned cheeks.

_**Where were you after all those surgeries I did, when I cried in the hospital room as the anesthetic effect is gone and I got to endure the burning pain on my throat for three days straight? Where were you when I got the highest score for all subjects in school? Where were you when I packed all of my stuff and moved out of the city? Where were you when I called you every single night, just so that I can hear your voice?** _

_**Where were you, Mom? Dad?** _

Yerim wants to turn her head somewhere else, but Sungjin uses his dominance to make her keep looking at him. She never sees Sungjin like this. So vulnerable but also strong at the same time. She hates the way it hurts her. She hates how much Sungjin's words remind her that she's not a good mother.

_**I respect you so much, Mom, Dad. But if you don't want me as your son, that's fine. I'm sorry I can't be the perfect son and heir you've been dreaming of. And if you wanna exile me from the pack...that's okay too.** _

Sungjin walks closer to Yerim, wiping those tears from her cheeks. He bends his knees so that their eyes are on the same level.

_**I respect you so much that I just wanna remind you. If one day, when you're old, when you're enjoying a cup of warm green tea at the balcony in the winter afternoon in this big mansion, just the two of you, with no son, no grandchildren visit you during the holiday. It's all because of me, giving up my dream of a happy family for your wish.** _

Before he walks away, Sungjin politely smiles in front of his parents.

* * *

### Two years later

They're swaying their bodies together along with the slow music. The omega in his arms nuzzles the mating mark on Sungjin's neck, near the scar. The wolf in Sungjin's body purr at the touch.

It's their wedding night. Earlier this evening, they said their vows. They're currently in Busan since Younghyun's family wanted them to have their wedding there. The whole Alpha Pack came to the event. It was merry. Tough he's kinda disappointed because none of his family members come, Sungjin is happy to see his mate smiling so wide the entire night.

_**You're beautiful.** _

“You've said that for the seventh time this evening,” he giggles.

 _ **And you can't stop me from doing the eighth time in the next ten minutes.**_ The alpha grins. His dancing steps were slowing down until it completely stops.

The older guides Younghyun to the nearest bench. They're sitting side by side. _**I have something for you. Give me your phone.**_

Younghyun furrows his eyebrows, but he gives his phone nonetheless. He sees Sungjin opening a music player application on his phone.

“You're adding a playlist?”

The alpha nodded. _**Although I can't sing for you, I wanna express my feelings in songs. So I made a playlist instead. I hope you wanna listen to the songs later. And...um, my favorite one is the first song on the playlist.**_ He bashfully says that while scratching his neck.

“Thank you for making this,” Younghyun hugs his husband tight. “I love you.”

**_I love you more._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew... actually, this one got me emotional. What do you think about this update? I hope it's a good one. Oh, for the playlist Sungjin made for Younghyun, you can check it out in my pinned post on Twitter. It's a Spotify playlist.
> 
> Anyway, as always, feedbacks are so much appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	4. Outro: Moon

Younghyun is taking their clothes out of the dryer when one of the teachers calls him. He's surprised, and almost can't believe it when the man says that his son got into a fight in the school during a break. So he quickly texts Sungjin, repeating what the teacher told him, and saying that Younghyun's going to the school.

It's been around fifteen years since he and Sungjin are getting married. They moved to Daegu after graduation, considering they wanted to expand their parents' branch business there. Plus, since it's closer to Busan, Younghyun can visit his parents more often. In their two years of marriage, God blessed them with an addition to their little family. They named him Park Dowoon. A healthy, lovable, and shy, little alpha.

In a swift motion, he grabs the car key and starts driving. His mind can't stop thinking about Dowoon. He understands that Dowoon is an alpha and that, maybe he shows his emotions rather easily than a beta or omega. But he knows his son. Dowoon isn't some kind of alpha that'd easily throw his fist to some random troublemakers. The worst thing Dowoon did was years ago, he was yelling to a kid who's kicking a stray cat. His Dowoon never did something so awful like that.

When he reaches the school area, he pulls over the car and parks it. Younghyun rapidly heads to the headmaster's office, only to find the headmaster himself and his son are there. Dowoon ducks his head further when he senses his Papa's arrival.

“Dowoon-ah, are you okay?” a gentle caress lands on the teen's shoulder. Younghyun sits next to him. “What happened here?”

The headmaster explains, “He fought with his classmate, an alpha, Jeon Taejung. Luckily there's no injury on both parties. But we would like to take action like we should. Your son has violated the school policies. And I hope a three-days suspension is enough.”

“Wait a minute, my son would never fight. If he does, there must be a reason.”

The man shrugs, “I talked to him, Mr. Kang. But he admitted that he fought with Taejung and felt guilty.”

He furrow's his eyebrows. “Dowoon-ah is that true?”

The thirteen-year-old boy nods his head weakly. The omega massages his temple for a sudden headache he gets. He understands now when his mom said that raising an alpha is a little bit more difficult.

“They're teenagers Mr. Kang, I understand that their emotions aren't stable yet. Moreover, this is his first year in this lower secondary school, things may be hard for him to adapt. But I want you, as a parent, to help Dowoon to reflect on his actions. I hope both Dowoon and Taejung can be a better version of themselves after this event.”

He huffs in agreement. “I hope so too. Thank you so much, sir. I'll do whatever I can. Have a good day,” with one last nod, he and Dowoon walk out of the office.

He rests his hand on Dowoon's shoulder, not gripping, nor dragging him to walk faster. Just resting it there. He guides Dowoon to the car.

“Put your seat belt on,” Younghyun tells him. The son bites his lip. The fact that his Papa's voice is so clear and calm even after he made a trouble is actually terrifying. He imagines Younghyun would yell at him and scold him. But none of them happens makes him more nervous than he actually should.

News about traffic and weather on the radio turns in a low volume fills the silence between them the whole drive. When they reach home, Dowoon is quick to unbuckle his belt and running out of the car to his room upstairs. Younghyun sighs at the sight. As he gets out of the driver's seat, he's startled when he smells his alpha's pheromones around the house, indicating that Sungjin is home already when he still has six more hours to work at the office.

And indeed, his alpha is there, standing tall, greets him at the door. Younghyun chuckles, he must be worried about Dowoon that he decides to go home.

_**What happened to our son? I saw him running upstairs and slams his door.** _

“He was fighting with his classmate and he's suspended for three days.”

The shock on Sungjin's face is obvious. _**Is he and his classmate okay? Should I talk to him?**_

“Nah, it's okay. I'll talk to him later,” the younger says. Sungjin takes his small hand in his, rubbing it gently.

_**Alright. Don't be too hard on him, okay?** _

“You know I won't,” he kisses Sungjin's cheek before they both enter the house.

* * *

He severally knocks on the wooden door and opens it when the person behind it allows him to. “Hey, buddy, wanna grab an ice cream at the usual place?” Younghyun asks the little alpha who's currently cuddling Tory, their dog.

Dowoon pouts. His eyes are so round and big, looking straight at Younghyun and he has to stop himself from cooing at the latter.

“Can I take Tory too?”

“Of course. Take his leash on your way out. I'll be waiting in the car,” Younghyun steps out and gives him some time to prepare himself.

Five minutes later Dowoon joins him in the car with their little dog curling on his lap. Younghyun helps him to fix his seat belt before he starts driving down the streets. Again, they're quite during the whole drive. But this one isn't as tense as earlier. Petting Tory helps the younger alpha a lot to remain calm.

The ice cream cafe is located in the old street area of the town. It isn't that big. But the interior is cozy. Youghyun likes the pastel and pink ornaments decorating the room. A worker greets them happily when they enter the cafe.

“Hello, I'd like to have buttered pecan, vanilla almond, and chocolate-flavored ice cream. One scoop each,” he turns to the teen at his side. “What do you want?”

The younger version of him and Sungjin then points at the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. “And two scoops of that, please,” Younghyun says to the man.

After proceeding to pay the amount of money, the man then gives them their tall ice cream. Both of them are now sitting at the round table, facing each other. Younghyun smiles to himself when he sees the delightful expression on the other's face. He knows very well Dowoon likes ice cream as much as he likes petting their dog.

“Is it good?” he asks, Dowoon nods enthusiastically. He extends his arm and pats Dowoon's soft, fluffy, black locks. In no time, they finish eating the ice cream.

On their way back home, Younghyun decides to stop at the park, telling Dowoon to let Tory plays for awhile. He grabs a thermoplastic rubber fetch stick on the back of the car before leading him to the park with their fingers intertwined. The white dog is more than happy to run and catching the stick Dowoon threw.

After some time, he lets the question rolls out of his tongue, “Do you wanna talk about it?” Younghyun tries to sound as calm as possible. Then, all of a sudden Dowoon bows his head, feeling guilty all over again.

“I'm sorry, Papa. I punched Taejungie,” his voice cracks.

“And why is that? I know you would never do that without any reason,” he reassuringly puts his arm around his shoulders and pulls him closer. He consciously letting out his honey scent to calm his son, “It's okay, baby, I won't be mad.”

“He... He talks bad about Daddy,” Dowoon weakly says. Younghyun raises his eyebrows at this statement. He continues, “He saw me and Daddy at the restaurant the other day. A-and he... he saw us talking in sign language,” Dowoon's tears are falling down his chubby cheeks even before he gets to the point of the problem.

“It's okay, Dowoon-ah,” Younghyun hugs his only son, letting his white t-shirt becomes wet of Dowoon's tears and snots. “Did he say anything about it?”

The little alpha hiccups, “He- he said Dad is p-pathetic,” Dowoon reluctantly said the last word. “He said we're a weird family that we talk with sign language. He also looked at Daddy's scars and told me it's ugly. He kept on repeating those sentences and I don't like it that's why I punched him,” Younghyun hardens his jaw.

It took almost three years after their marriage for Sungjin's family to accept him back into the pack. Sungjin's parents dear Dowoon so much. And he's happy now that Sungjin and his parents are in a good term. Dowoon has brought them so much happiness in life. And it took him longer than five years to convince Sungjin that it's okay to not wearing his collar everywhere he goes. That it's totally normal for humans to have scars. That he still looks astonishingly gorgeous even with his scars running along his neck. And it breaks his heart all over again if he knows there's still someone who treats his alpha awfully.

Dowoon releases himself from the hug, he looks up at Younghyun. “But Pa, Daddy's scars aren't ugly at all. And Daddy... he's the nicest dad ever. His hugs are so warm. His eyes are the prettiest, especially when he smiles. No one has eyes as pretty as Daddy's. I never saw him being angry at me even though I drew on my wall with crayons, or when I accidentally spilled the spaghetti he cooked. He always plays me guitar before I go to bed, and dry my hair with a towel after I took a shower in the night,” his lips are quivering as he manages to say those sentences at a time.

Younghyun is surprised too, to see his son talks so much. Dowoon usually doesn't talk this much. He then sighs, “Daddy loves you so much, Dowoon-ah. He really does. Do you know Daddy always stays up late after he helps you to do your homework? That's because he studies for the next chapter, so that he can help you again the next day. Well, not for math, you know he's a nerd in math he doesn't need to reread your textbook. But for Korean history and literature, yes,” Younghyun finds himself smiling as he tells it to their son.

Younghyun then continues again, “When you were four, you had a high fever, and no matter how much food we try to feed you, you always puked them out. Your Dad, he's worried sick about it. He didn't even get enough sleep for the week. He insisted to never let you go. You slept in his arms and woke up in his arms again. He'd do anything for you,”

Dowoon cries harder. He buries his face on Younghyun's chest once again.

“Please don't do it again. I know you love Daddy so much that you wanna protect him. I do too. It frustrates me so much when someone talks awfully 'bout him. But don't vent your anger like that again, okay? There are better ways to express your emotions,”

Although he's still sobbing, he manages to nod at Younghyun's words.

“Good. Papa and Daddy love you so much, Dowoon-ah. Thanks for letting me know,” he kisses the top of Dowoon's head. “Call Tory, we're heading home.”

* * *

He found Sungjin in their room when they reach home. He's looking at his husband on the bed, with a notebook on his lap and a pair of round glasses sitting perfectly on his nose bridge.

“Hey, our little buddy here wanna apologize,” he steps aside, revealing their son behind his back.

Dowoon scurries himself closer, shoulders dropped, eyes watery, red nose, and frowning. He's clearly on the verge of crying (again).

“Dad, I'm sorry for fighting Taejungie. I promise I won't do it again. Sorry for making you worry,”

Sungjin closes his notebook and sets it aside. _**Did you hurt yourself in the process? Did you apologize to him?**_

“No, I didn't. And I'll apologize when I meet him.”

_**Okay, that's all that matters. Don't do it again, yeah?**_ Sungjin boops his little nose with his index finger.

Their dynamics are back to normal. They hugged, they laughed, they loved. Later that night, Sungjin finds Younghyun playing a piano in the living room with the windows opened, letting the summer breeze into the room and circulating the air. The crickets sound harmonizing along the piano notes.

He's inching closer to his lovely omega. He pats his shoulders, making the latter a little bit startled.

_**Why don't you sleep yet?** _

“I still wanna play the piano,” he beams, looking up at his mate. “Sit here, I'll play for you,”

He obliges, he takes a seat next to him and gazes at the younger who's looking back at him. Everything around them gets blurry. His hazel eyes twinkle in the moonlight. They look so warm. The hazel of his eyes looks like a pool of honey surrounded by milk. He can never gets tired staring them. The younger blushes when his alpha doesn't stop looking at him after a minute.

“W-why do you look at me like that?”

_**I'm the luckiest to be the one to have you.  
**_ _**You're so pretty.  
** _ _**What did I do to deserve you?** _

“Stop it. How can you be so cheesy even after fifteen years?” Younghyun hides his red face in his hands. Sungjin smiles softly at Younghyun's antics. He then wraps his fingers around his wrist, taking those small hands down, revealing that beautiful face.

_**Did you talk to our son about what happened in school?** _

Younghyun huffs, “I did. An alpha was being mean to him, that's why he fought him,”

Sungjin furrows his eyebrows. _**Mean? Did he got bullied?**_

“No, actually. He...” Younghyun hesitates for a second, “His classmate talks something terrible about you. About the scars and how weird it is for us to talk in sign language,” he looks at the alpha, feeling sorry.

Sungjin goes silent, his eyes wander elsewhere. He's hurt. Furthermore when he's the reason that their son got into trouble. But before Younghyun could say anything else, he tries to hide his sadness and says, _**That's...alright.**_

“It's not alright. I've told you and I'll keep on telling you this. Don't listen to them,” Younghyun exasperatedly sighs. Sungjin stops. He knows this topic will make Younghyun mad if he keeps on insisting and actually believing in other people's words about him. He gives in, not wanting his mate to be upset the whole night. He nods.

_**Play me the song you wanted to play.** _

He knows the alpha is sad after hearing it. And that, Younghyun wants to replace his sadness. So he plays the piano. Earning a series of happy melodies. Younghyun hums to the lyrics, but Sungjin can hear it perfectly. He loves Youghyun's voice.

_“How long has the moon  
_ _And earth been together like this?  
_ _Can I be by your side, shining with existence?_

_You are my planet  
_ _I'm just a moon to you  
_ _Your little star that lights up your heart_

_You are my Earth  
_ _And all I see is you  
_ _Just staring at you like this way_

_Everyone says I'm beautiful  
_ _But my sea is black  
_ _You're the one with the flowers blooming  
_ _And the sky is blue_

_Suddenly I wonder  
_ _If you're looking at me right now?  
_ _Won't you find out all my pain?_

_I'll be around you_  
_I'll be there for you  
_ _I'll be your light_

_All for you”_

Those lyrics, it's clearly for him. Because Sungjin said it several times to Younghyun how's his omega's existence is like a moon to him. Shining beautifully in his lonely nights, chase away all of his darkest thoughts. Meanwhile Sungjin, he's no one. Not even the sun that is enormous and shining brightly, comparable to the moon. Not even the Saturn, that has a beautiful ring. He's just like the earth. Ring _less_ , shine _less_ , and not even the largest planet in the universe.

But then again, after listening to this song, he just realized how the moon is always rotating itself around the earth. When some planets are clearly more beautiful than the earth, but the moon always _chooses_ the earth somehow. Like how Younghyun chooses him.

He's smiling, blinking away the tears on the rim of his eyes. The omega stops playing the piano as the song ends. He turns his body slightly, facing Sungjin. Younghyun brings his hands to cup his alpha's face.

“I love you, Sungjin. You mean so much to me and that you give me the most precious moments in my life. And Dowoon too, our son loves you so much. My family too. A lot of people love you. Please ignore those harsh words. We'll do anything to make you feel happy. You have to know that,” Younghyun's thumb brushes his tears away.

_**Thank you, dear. Thank you so much.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this story. I hope you like it. This story itself is inspired by The 52-Hz Whale, the world's loneliest whale. It can only produce sound at 52 Hz, the pitch is much higher than any other whales make (it ranges from 10-39 Hz), which makes the 52-Hz Whale can't be heard by other whales. Thus, he became the loneliest. (You can look it up on the internet for more info :) ).
> 
> The same thing goes for Sungjin in this AU, I make him can only produce voice below 20 Hz, which also makes his voice cannot be heard by others, not even his own ears. He feels vulnerable and restless as no one understands him. But luckily, Younghyun is there for him. He tries so hard to make Sungjin's insecurities disappear. He wants Sungjin to be happy and to really understand that he, too, even though different from the rest, deserves to be loved like everyone else.
> 
> For the song that Younghyun sang to him, it's called Moon by Jin BTS. You can listen to that, it's really a sweet song.
> 
> Anyway, that's all for today. I hope you are all aware that you deserve to be loved and to love in this world. Once again, thanks for reading. Please leave a comment of kudos if you like it ^^

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So this is my first time to publish my story here. This story was originally posted on Twitter. If you'd like to see my other works, you can visit it. I posted some Sungbri AUs there, it's @/sungbricrumbs. Anyway, thanks for reading! Comments or kudos are very much appreciated ^^


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